John Sellars

John Sellars, Ph.D., is an American academic. He was named president of Graceland University in May 2007. He was previously the fifteenth President of Drury University, serving for two years, and a senior vice president for institutional advancement at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.

Sellars was born and raised in Independence,Missouri and received his bachelor's degrees from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. He continued his education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he received a master's degree in public administration in 1986 and a Ph.D. in 1992. His post-graduate studies include the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University and the Strategic Planning and Higher Education Marketing program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In June 2006, Sellars was one 80 presidents of American colleges and universities to participate in the Council of Europe forum “Higher Education and Democratic Culture: Citizenship, Human Rights and Civic Responsibility.” The forum brought together 300 American and European leaders in government policy and higher education to discuss how higher education can support emerging democracies.

Sellars' term at Drury University began with high expectations, but deteriorated when he announced the school was millions of dollars in debt, initiated a re-examination of the university's mission, and appeared to squelch academic freedom following a controversial interview by a faculty member. On April 23, 2007, facing a likely vote of no confidence from the faculty, Sellars resigned.

One month later, on May 24, 2007, Sellars was named president of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, effective July 15. The university's news release notes:

"About his new appointment, Dr. Sellars says, 'My wife, Bette, and I are excited about returning to Graceland. It is an important university for us personally and professionally. We served there previously for nine years, and all three of our children graduated from Graceland. It is also the university of our faith tradition, and we are looking forward to being a part of the Graceland community once again.'"

In 2009, Sellars sent mixed messages about the marriage of two men in a ceremony at the Graceland chapel. In a June 1 letter to the university community, he distanced himself from the ceremony, saying that "Given current church policy, we would not have authorized the May 17 wedding at Graceland with a Community of Christ priesthood member conducting the service. Graceland will now seek additional information about worship services planned on our campus and will adhere to Community of Christ policy that its ministers are not authorized to officiate in same-sex marriages." In the following paragraph, however, he asserted that the university "stands upon a proud tradition of openness, acceptance, understanding, the worth of all persons and the Divine's love for all humankind." The latter quotation was included in news coverage of same-sex marriage. Alumnus Andy Horner criticized Sellars for appearing to promote a policy that contradicts the university's non-discrimination policy and questioned Graceland's independence from the Community of Christ church.